


Academy of Magic: Book 1

by Charlie_Writes_Fanfiction



Series: Academy of Magic [1]
Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:00:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27511171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlie_Writes_Fanfiction/pseuds/Charlie_Writes_Fanfiction
Summary: As Aurora struggles to figure out who exactly his mother was, he attends school at the Academy for Young Magical Beings. However, something isn't right here.
Series: Academy of Magic [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2010613
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

I woke up with a start, immediately struggling with my stupid bedsheets. A banging on my door alerted me that my brother knew I was awake. It was his way of wordlessly telling me to get dressed. 

“By the stars, get up Aurora!” I could hear my sister yelling from the kitchen. I groaned in response as I rolled out of the bed. My room was a plethora of vibrant blues and greens, with some splashes of a few other colors. Today was the first day of Academy, which I had to leave for in about half an hour. Stupid academy, stupid magic. I didn’t even want to learn their so-called “magic training for young beings”. How stupid did they think I was?

My mother knew magic. Real, true, powerful magic. You needed a potion to make your wife healthy once again? She could give it to you in about twenty minutes. You wanted to have gold hair instead of brown hair but can’t afford dye? She’ll give you a custom spell just for it. 

Dad was unfortunately not gifted with the same knowledge. He was just an elf, he didn’t know any of that. The most he knew was how to do taxes and bill things. Then again, humans had been willing to incorporate others like him into their world so long ago. So many people have forgotten their roots.

As a half elf you’d expect me to be taller too. Not a chance it would seem. Due to my mother's short height I also became incredibly short. I was only four feet and ten inches tall. At least I was taller than I could have been. The purple robes placed delicately on my suitcase was hideous.

“You better be getting in that robe, you’ll get dress coded without it,” my dad yelled. I huffed out something that he wouldn’t hear and reluctantly jammed on the school clothes. Thankfully my messenger bag could be decorated with whatever, and so could my hair. I quickly ripped open my suitcase and began frantically packing in last minute items I meant to put in it last night.

Another knock, signaling I only had five more minutes to finish packing and bring myself downstairs. With a small cast, the last few items flew into the suitcase and zipped itself shut. I dashed down the stairs to wave goodbye to my siblings and my dad. Unlike all my other school years, today I would be taken in an official Academy ship. We would not be heading home at the end of the day, instead we would be given cabins for the five day trip and then dorms at the Academy.

I could see the ship coming down, it was rather hard to miss. Giant purple sails with their golden logo. The ship itself was made from wood and various other materials. A very fancy and intricate ship, paid for by the Academy.

Basically I was going to a snobby rich kid school for magic. Keep in mind, I didn’t want to go. I had no choice in the matter because my stupid father decided to send me away. It wasn’t fair at all. I gripped my suitcase just a little tighter as I reluctantly lined up with the dozens of other kids in purple robes. Soon enough I wouldn’t be seeing these bright and colorful fields, these many friends of mine, and most importantly I wouldn’t be seeing the Aurora Gale across the sky at night. It’s why my mother named me Aurora, despite my being a boy. 

It was one of the few things that helped me keep my mother's memories alive. I didn’t remember anything about her face, nor anything about the things she did in her personal life. My father refused to tell me anything. I only read about my mother in the textbooks she was described in.

The only thing my father let me keep that my mother gave to me was a trunk of her things, but I couldn’t open it. I shook my head to clear my thoughts as I walked closer and closer to the ship. As I walked, I glanced at the open market today. Inside I could see my brother’s stall. He waved to me before casting something over to me just as I was stepping on board. I caught it and quickly pocketed it. Everyone was handed keys and sent to their rooms to get settled for the five days.

“Aurora Clover?” I whipped my head around to see a lady holding a key and staring at her book in surprise. Instead of getting my father's last name, I inherited my mother's last name. I very reluctantly raised my hand and glanced away. The lady nodded before passing me my key and pointing me to my room. Murmurs began to ripple across the deck as I quickly pushed my way past them all. 

I sighed in relief as I slipped inside my small cabin. With a quick look around the room I confirmed my suspicions. Due to my last name, lots of things were specially done for me. Based on the looks of things, it was probably one of the best rooms on the ship. One bed with a view of everything with a bubble-like shape, a bathroom attached with a giant tub, and a lovely little table with a singular chair and tea set. 

At least it was all blue and not purple or some other insane color.


	2. Chapter 2

As I flopped on the bed, I quite literally sunk into it. The sun was slowly setting now, and I’d spent the whole day just wandering around the room and eating my lunch quietly. Soon enough I’d have to go out and eat with the rest of the students on the ship. I gagged at the prospect of being forced to eat group dinners and everything else at the Academy. There was no way I was going to abuse my last name either. I prided myself on being good natured and less abusive about the certain power I had with my name than my father was. He probably used it to jam me into the Academy.

I picked at the golden symbol on my robes, watching as it mended itself together again. I huffed as the bell just above my door began to ring like crazy. Dinner bell, how lovely. With a grumble I left my room and began to trail after the other students to the Mess Hall. I scratched lightly at my wrist as I walked. 

Damn this stupid robe, I thought as I tripped a few times. Who makes robes these long anyways, I huffed and tried to keep up with these notably taller students. One of them looked back at me with a sympathetic look but kept walking. At one point I even noticed them pause.

“Hey, do you need help? I noticed you kept tripping?” they asked finally. I was surprised, mainly because everyone thought I didn’t need help ever. Nodding, they smiled and did a simple hemming spell, one I didn’t know just yet.

“Thank you, uh,” I paused. They laughed, offering their hand.

“I’m Calliope. It’s nice to meet you!” she said as she smiled. I decided to take her hand, not caring how embarrassing it may seem.

“Calliope! Hurry up, or we’ll be separated!” 

“You guys go ahead, we sat together last year!”

I was surprised by this, today was certainly not what I was expecting. Calliope had beautiful sky blue skin and pretty purple eyes. A tiefling, I think. Our city only had elves and half elves. Was she half elf? I picked at the golden key on my robes again before straightening up at the sight of the doors to the Mess Hall. 

“I don’t mean to assume, but you are Aurora right?” Calliope asked gently. I nodded, there was no use in denying it. She nodded too, smiling as we entered the Mess Hall. We must have looked ridiculous, a four foot tall and ten inches half elf holding hands with a tiefling who was at least six feet tall without her horns. 

“Hey, it's that Clover kid!”

“Nu uh, they’re too short!”

“Trishni was too dummy!”

I groaned inwardly. Here we went again. Due to my mother’s fame I would soon be known as a failure to her name wouldn’t I? Calliope gave a comforting squeeze to my hand, scowling at the people who were gossiping. 

As we sat down, I tried to duck my head. Stars, why didn’t I brush my hair at least before leaving my room? My father would likely be disappointed to know that my auburn hair was in a mess. I swung my legs back and forth quietly. I really hated having short legs that couldn’t even touch the ground when I was sitting. Though, I have to admit, seeing Calliope struggle to get situated was humorous. She thought so too.

“Ah, sorry, but you are Aurora right? Aurora Clover, like Trishni Clover?” I heard someone ask behind me. I whipped my head around to see a human boy standing there shyly. Wait, no, not human. At least, not fully. He had shimmery wings and pointy ears, with a flatter nose and bigger eyes. A fairy. I nodded.

He smiled gently before pointing at the seat to the other side of me. I waved my hand as if to say go ahead. Nonverbal was some of my best communication. He sat next to me with such grace that one could mistake him for a prince.

“I’m Harper. It’s a pleasure to meet you both. Might I know your name?” he asked, sounding just as polite as he looked. Calliope smiled and spoke gently as she leaned over behind me. One of my ears twitched slightly, surprising them both.

“Your ears move? How impressive!” Harper said. I nodded, it was one of my mother's traits. None of my other siblings could do that, nor could my father. I had no idea what other traits my mother had though, other than she had soft feathers. 

Occasionally, I would grow a few myself. Never enough to be obvious though. Some small ones at the back of my neck and a few on my wrists once in a while. They tended to be auburn, fading into a white. The auburn always had some white flecks though. 

A loud clicking was heard from the front of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

In the front stood a high elf woman, with long silver hair and blue eyes. Her dark skin was also quite beautiful, making her look ethereal almost. She smiled and placed the cup and knife down gently.

“Good evening students! As you are aware, it will take us five days to reach the actual Academy.” she started, “I am Ramys, your Dormitory Watch and Assistant Teacher this year. Next year I will be a teacher in Potions and Poisons.

“I will be the one checking dorms at school the whole year, and for these five days I will be checking cabins. If you have any questions, feel free to ask the ten of us or voice your concerns.” 

We all clapped as a sign of respect before another stood up and we all quieted down.

“I am Querik, your current Spells and Casts teacher. Please let it be known that if you are to cast any spells while in this ship they will only be minor ones or your magic will be restricted, we don’t need a repeat of last year.”

Again, more claps. We repeated this process until all ten of the adults had introduced themselves and gave us a tip. However, the Aakocra stood out amongst the rest. He was an owl, Querik said his name was?

I opened my mouth but snapped it shut, too nervous to say anything to this man. Instead I just slumped in my seat so I wouldn’t be noticed by anyone else. Though, that may have been done too late. One of the adults smiled at me gently. I gave a shaky one back.

Soon after the rest of the students asked whatever nonsense questions the food came out and we could eat. I was quick to grab the blue rolls first, as my oldest sister would always make them when she was home from college. I wondered if when break came around I would be seeing her. She did say she wasn’t going home for break though.

“Aurora, you alright? You look sad,” Calliope pointed out. I shook my head, sitting upright and stuffing my mouth with one of the blue rolls. I quickly realized my mistake when Calliope and Harper stifled their giggles and continued eating. I quickly flushed pink as I felt the feathers on the back of my neck fluff up slightly.

“Sorry, I-”

“No need to apologize, you're quite alright!”

I nodded, patting the feathers down as quickly as possible. The last thing I needed was for someone to point them out. My nerves were spiking everywhere as this dinner continued. One of the other students had accidentally knocked into me, quickly whirling around and apologizing profusely. 

“I’m so sorry! Are you alright? I didn’t hurt you?” she asked, her quick apology scaring me slightly and making my feathers puff up entirely.

“Oh and I’ve made you scared, oh my! Here, hold on!” she said, dipping her hands in her pockets and pulling out something wrapped in a little napkin. She held it out to me with an apologetic face. I gently plucked it from her hands before offering her a seat across from me. 

“Again, I’m so sorry! I’m Willow by the way,” she said brightly. I gave her one of my best smiles before unraveling the small napkin she handed me. Inside were some of the marshmallows I couldn’t reach.

“Thank you, Willow.” She nodded before grabbing a random plate and filling it with some food. Based on her looks, she was an Oakera, specifically a Weeping Willow. Rather fitting for her name.

I found it kind of strange, these people didn’t once question me or even make fun of me. Was it my last name? I wasn’t sure. Inside I found myself wishing they were sharing my cabin with me, rather than being in a cabin alone. Maybe the dorms would have a few people in a room. Would we get a choice?

My thoughts were interrupted as someone tapped me on the shoulder gently. I tried my hardest to not just whirl around and smack their hand away, a bad habit of mine, and instead looked up. A girl stood over me and waved very gently.

“I’m afraid we don’t know anybody here, and there are no more seats. Could we sit over by you guys?” she asked, offering out a blue roll and a candy. I nodded, smiling as she handed me the treats. Beside her was a boy about the same height as Harper, maybe taller. He was clearly a catfolk, based on the fluffy tail and set of cat ears placed neatly on his head. The girl was a changeling, and a tall one by that.

“I’m Ona, this is Chess,” the changeling girl said, gesturing towards the catfolk who waved excitedly. I gave them each a polite smile as I tried to take smaller bites of the roll this time. These people were very nice. I felt my neck feathers fluff up even more as I felt happy. If anyone did notice, they said nothing on it.

“Hello Professor Querik!”


	4. Chapter 4

I felt my heart drop as I heard that. The Aarakocra man stood near us, with Calliope saying hello. He was quick to respond and walked over to our small group.

“Hello younglings. How are you this evening?” he asked, giving each of us a lookdown.

“We’re making friends Professor. This is Aurora!” Chess replied, gesturing to me.

“Ah, indeed! How are you enjoying your first ship ride so far?” he asked me while leaning down slightly.

“It’s nice. Not as bumpy as dad’s ship,” I mumbled, super nervous. Again, I felt my neck feathers fluff up with my anxiety. He took quick notice of this before pulling back with a smile.

“You know, I taught your mother when she went to the Academy. Feel free to ask anything about her, you’ll find me in the library young owling,” he said before turning away and walking around to speak to other students.

My jaw dropped. Owling? Is that what I was going to be called all year? Why did he call me an owling, wasn’t that a term for child or young one used for owl people? Is that what my mother was too? So many thoughts ran through my head. The most prominent being he knew my mother and was willing to tell me about her. The textbooks never gave her an appearance unfortunately.

“Aurora, are you alright?” I heard Ona ask. I just sat there blankly staring at the space where Professor Querik had been standing. It wasn’t till I heard the bell signaling the end of dinner that I snapped out of my stupor. I quickly grabbed the last blue roll and stuffed it into my mouth, heading towards the door like everyone else. There was no way I could deny that was one of the most embarrassing moments I had ever had. 

I munched on my blue roll as I walked, not bothering to use my hands for anything but tracing the walls. Other students began to unlock their rooms as I passed them to get to mine. As I rushed to my room, I saw Calliope and gave her a small smile as I waved to her. She smiled back before entering her room with a mango colored tiefling, probably her roommate.

The moment I got in my room I let out a sigh before flapping about wildly. I didn’t even know why I was upset. Maybe it was because no one ever actually told me what my mother was like, or what she even was. All I ever heard was praise. It was only ever praised that her magic was strong and that she was clever. I wanted to scream, but that might have others panic. Instead I ripped off the uniform and stuffed myself into my pajamas. My neck feathers were now super puffed up, and a few extra feathers had begun to appear on my wrists again.

I huffed as I sunk into the bed once again, wrapping myself tightly in the blankets provided. The bubble window gave me some light, but I shut the curtains mostly. I didn’t want anything to disturb my sleep tonight. No one could disturb me either, at least, not till morning.

The lullaby my mother used to sing to me echoed in my skull. It was the only thing I remembered with her voice. She sounded lovely, with a certain firmness in her. She sounded like a river, strong enough to knock you down should you step in the river but gentle to not hurt you. I didn’t even know the meaning behind her words, all I knew was that it was about love.

I would have gladly learned the words she sang to me. It was ripped from me though. A strange noise left my throat as I shrunk in on myself. I hoped that my father never found out anything about the feathers, he would have me rid of them.

I closed my eyes gently, letting sleep wash over me. Tomorrow would be different, I hoped.


	5. Chapter 5

I groaned as a gentle knock came from my door, the knob gently turning as Ramys poked her head in. She smiled before setting something on the table by the door. I stretched gently as I got up, trying my best not to make any birdlike noises. When I went to make my bed I saw the mess of feathers on the bed. I sighed and decided to just use magic to clean it up.

Ramys had left a little note on the table, and by the looks of it, it wasn’t hers. It was written by someone else. A small natural talent was recognizing handwriting before it was even done in front of me. If anything, this looked to be Professor Querik’s handwriting. 

Aurora, please meet me in the ship’s library. It is my understanding that you don’t know much about your mother. I wish to remedy this. Keep in mind there will also be another teacher here that knows about your mother, and I have brought her along.

SIgned, Professor Querik.

Two people knew of my mother, two people could provide me the answers I so desperately needed. Who really was my mother, what was she like? I rushed to get dressed in my clean robes and smooth down the feathers on my neck and wrists. Why was I growing so many damned feathers?

I shook my head as I brushed my hair and used a headband to hold it back. As I did so, I noticed a blotch of black on my forehead right up against my hair with a few feathers growing there. I huffed and reluctantly left the headband on. Today was going to be one of those days then. Nothing I could do about it regardless.

I decided against bringing my bag with me, instead opting to just rush down to the library. Wherever the heck that was. Maybe I could ask one of the professors? I nodded as I walked directly to a pair of them. Jalil and Gale I do believe were their names.

“Excuse me, but do either of you know where the library is?” I asked quietly. They both looked down at me before smiling. 

“The library is just down those stairs, the furthest door to the left!” Professor Jalil supplied as he pointed. Gale smiled eerily down at me, revealing a very sharp set of teeth. For some reason, I felt no ease around this man. I nodded at the fluffy dog eared professor, thanking him for the directions. His chocolate brown ears perked up as he went right back to his conversation. A corgi like canus then.

I hummed as I did my best to not trip as I rushed to the library. As I reached the library, I felt my nerves seize me again. What if it was all just praise and compliments towards her? What if neither of them knew what she looked like anymore? I took a deep breath as I slipped inside and shut the door with my foot.

“Professor Querik?” I called out. A ruffling sound and some giggles were heard as I saw his owl head pop over one of the lower shelves. His face morphed into a smile filled with joy, or well, as much as an owl could smile I suppose. He quickly ducked around the corner to reveal his own robe, though it was much more fancy. 

“Right this way owling, we have much to discuss it would seem.”


	6. Chapter 6

As we sat down I noticed that we were the only three in the library. The professor who was already sitting tipped her hat and gave me a gentle smile. She handed me a small package with a note before leaning back and allowing the wide brim of her witch hat cover her eyes.

The note read to not open it until December Eighteenth, the Year 2022 on the Eight Rotation of the Circle. In other words, it was my birthday that day, my sixteenth birthday. The handwriting wasn’t one I recognized.

“That’s your birthday, right?” Professor Querik said gently, cocking his head at me. I nodded. The lady smiled again, the blue bottles hanging from her hat jangling with her giggle. She had been the one giggling earlier.

“I am Professor Glassheart, it’s a pleasure to meet you young Clover.”

“How did you know my mom?” I blurted out. They both looked at each other before looking back at me. With a soft smile Professor Glassheart summoned a book into her hands, bound in blue leather. It had a lock on it, as well as another note tucked inside. It was the same date. I assume the little bag was probably filled with keys. Would this be how I learned about my mother? Locked up items? 

“Your mother gave us specific instructions to give you multiple items, but not to let you open any of them yet,” Professor Querik said. Beside him was a bag, most likely filled with other locked items. I frowned. Why didn’t my father ever tell me about these left behind items and keys? He had gone to the same school. A gentle hand smoothed my eyebrows out. I jumped up slightly, my feathers fluffing up. Professor Glassheart gave me a gentle smile before gesturing to my headband.

“Are your feathers growing?”

“Uh, I think so. I don’t know why they do that, sorry.”

“It conveys your emotions dear, like a cat's ears or a dog's tail.”

I nodded gently, scratching at the feathers on my wrists. Professor Querik gently plucked my headband from my head to inspect the black skin I had developed once more. It too had small feathers growing at my hairline now more obvious to the eyes. Both of the professors seemed pleased by this however. 

“Do they itch?” Professor Querik gently inquired me.

“A little,” I mumbled. I picked at the little box in my hands, not enough to open it though. I was glad to not be considered strange though. Everyone when I was younger teased me for the feathers decorating the back of my neck.

“Perhaps you’d like to see a small picture of your mother next?”


End file.
